Pokémon GO Gym Update Rolls Out, Brings New Hacking Penalties

A much-anticipated update to Pokémon GO is rolling out across iTunes and Google Play which includes re-designed gyms and an all new badge system, but those trying to illicitly catch Pokémon may be less than pleased. Posted to Reddit by A Niantic staff member, the game’s developer has a new plan to combat use of third-party programs in order to keep gameplay fair.

With the announcement of Raid Battles and the new battle features, we are staying true on our commitment to ensuring that Pokémon GO continues to be a fun and fair experience for all Trainers. Starting today, Pokémon caught using third-party services that circumvent normal gameplay will appear marked with a slash in the inventory and may not behave as expected. We are humbled by the excitement for all the new features we announced yesterday.This is one small part of our continued commitment to maintaining the integrity of our community and delivering an amazing Pokémon GO experience.

While short on details, it certainly seems like a step in the right direction to make the game more fair for players who spend time exploring he real world to catch Pokémon.

In addition, the Fire &a Ice Solstice Event has been extended by 24 hours!

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1,735 thoughts on “Pokémon GO Gym Update Rolls Out, Brings New Hacking Penalties”

  1. After a year of where my interest in anime kinda faltered, I’m now interested in watching some anime again thanks to Aot season 2 and BnHA. Any animes y’all want to suggest for me to watch?

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    • I love phantom, but I’ve never seen it live. It’s super long though, and honestly, for me, it depends on how Phantom’s voice sounds that determines if I like that production of it or not

      Reply
  2. My favorite thing about ARMS is finding a cocky individual on Ranked mode who keeps rematching you even though you win every single time. AKA rank farming.

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      • I can respect it too, but at some point you have to realize that there’s a skill difference between you and your opponent and you’re only deducting points from yourself. Eventually I was like “really?!?” after the 8th time or something.

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        • Yesssss you aren’t using a spammed character
          I’m currently Megaton Slapamander Helix
          Or slammander, which ever the fire one is

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          • Yeah, B&B all the way for me. I keep trying to go back to Master Mummy or Kid Cobra but I’m so used to B&B already. I said he would be my main before the game came out but it’s just coincidental that its play style works for me.

          • Mummy is actually the worst and Cobra is CONSTANTLY spammed
            Same for me and Helix
            Though I’d hate fighting you… my experience says Helix is kinda countered by B&B

          • Is Kid Cobra impossible to beat?? I mean, I haven’t gotten the game yet but I heard that’s basically all anyone ever plays.

          • I actually beat him with Helix who’s considered Low tier
            He’s not impossible or even the best character
            Twintelle is hard to play really well but she’s better and Ribbon girl is absolutely skilless and also top tier
            Kid Cobra is just behind those two and is also really friggin cool
            He’s just extremely good

          • Ribbon girl is if anyone, I’ve yet to beat one

            BUUUUUTT
            Literally 90% of people play Cobra

          • I’ve been having some serious trouble with Twintelle and that damn Bayonetta time-skip BS. Definitely my toughest struggle (but not by that much).

          • Yeah she’s a top tier character but not played as much as some others because she seems to actually require some timing

            Fun fact: Helix is considered the hardest to play followed by B&B

            It’s scary being the only flubber in a meta of snakes and Ribbons

          • Seriously, B&B is hard to play? Well I’m sticking with it then because, for me, it’s actually easiest.

          • Here’s why
            Helix: The reaction time for knowing when to stretch and Shrink is INSANE. Also knowing how to utilize everything is nuts
            Byte and Barq: Barq has a mile long list of techs to do and you need to know a ton of them to be a serious contender

          • Makes sense I suppose. I definitely understand Helix (because I see people screwing it up a lot), and I also see that I have a lot to learn. The thing is, I see a whole lot of potential if/when I do discover those strategies.

          • Agreed
            Also bad Helix’s are friggin hilarious to watch
            (apparently someone who was good with Helix says the popper was good on him, glad my prediction was right)

  3. So you know how we’ve got literally no news alongside that strange announcement for USUM?

    I’m actually not mad and think it’s good.
    The longer they take telling us anything the more the tension and anticipation rises.
    Plus if they revealed something more in the direct compared to say next month if we get a reveal it would be like “oh USUM has this and that” well that’s cool but when we get news now it’ll be like “Wow they’ve got this in USUM and we predict that this means this” etc

    GF are clever. They know that with past games they’ve revealed too much so this time they might tease us more.
    Either way I’m really excited for USUM, I have high hopes and think they’ll be as good as BW2!

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      • I’m pretty sure they revealed a good amount for Gen 5/6 and as for SM well I wasn’t around much then.
        My point being they just basically showed us 2 new forms and the name of the games. Usually first trailer has more to it or at least some E3 info.
        I feel like they are purposely holding back more this time around.

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        • BW – Names (Zorua and Zoruark revealed before)

          BW2 – Names

          XY – Starters and cutscenes of the key ends

          ORAS – Names

          SM – Names

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  4. Today’s episode was pretty lackluster, but I totally have a newfound liking for Olivia
    she’s super affectionate towards pokemon

    my only confusion was what illness did that Wailmer have

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  5. So sorry for the spam again, but does anyone want to play me in Smash 4? I need to practice up on my Lucas Zelda and Lucina skills! and FG people are pretty punkish. We can even use items if you want? We can make it fun

    Reply
  6. I have recently been thinking about locations for Generation 8. I have 4 different countries in mind that could make some interesting regions. India, China, Australia, and Germany. I choose India and China since they are emerging markets for the video game industry, and they have diverse biomes, and different weather effects could have a constant impact on the region. Australia is one the list since most of the animals on the continent are pretty dangerous . I have Germany to finish off the list, since it would be interesting to have it as a region. There are a lot of other possibilities for gen 8.

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    • I vote Australia too, literally everything there will try to kill you

      As for starters I am not rolling out every bush baby or koala,

      What about
      Grass Frilled necked lizard
      Fire Tasmanian Devil
      Water Buffalo

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    • I kinda want Britain tbh, we could have four (five including Republic of Ireland if they’re thrown in too) sub regions with unique cultures and stuff

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      • Britain would be a smart choice, if they choose to incorporate all of the UK. That region would be pretty close to Kalos if they base things off the country’s position in the real world. It could also give us some history about that big pokemon war that supposedly happened in Kalos. Also, I hope that they would make it a bit bigger than Kalos and Alola.

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  7. 6 hours of boring work, We probably will have a solid 2-3 weeks of news drought
    At least starting tomorrow 4 more weeks until Splatoon 2

    Reply
  8. More CryptoPokemon stuff. This time, rather than creatures that are rare, yet natural, this time it’s synthetic Pokémon that escaped into the wild and causes rumours to spread.

    (Incoming wall)

    #???-Hextaer (Hexa- + Air, 4 Hydrogen and 2 Oxygen molecules)
    Reactant Pokémon
    Flying
    Plus/Minus/Hydration
    Evolves into Breamae after defeating 18 Pokémon*
    *Fainting will completely reset this, and it will slowly decay in storage.

    This CryptoPokémon is an oddity, and whilst it has vivid descriptions, its existence is doubted. Hextaer resemble sentient, enlarged atoms, being a singular round Pokémon surrounded by six orbs (which are joined together in pairs) of hydrogen and oxygen. It is believed that it will seek battle with other Hextaer in order to build up enough energy to evolve.

    Apparently, Hextaer will sometimes both unknowingly and in a form of barter trade orbs with other Hextaer. However, they will always attempt to keep their hydrogen to oxygen ratio at 2:1, as this is absolutely necessary for evolution.

    #???-Breamae (Break + Make without Ks, Activated Complex between atoms)
    Activated Pokémon
    Electric
    Moody/Hydration
    Evolves into Dahimo* with
    A Water Stone (Dahimo Liquid)
    An Ice Stone (Dahimo Solid)
    A Fire Stone (Dahimo Gas)
    *Will devolve if fainted, boxed for a certain amount of time, or after a certain amount of days without evolving.

    If Hextaer resembles three pairs of diatomic molecules, then Breamae represents the moment these molecules react. Its conjoined orbs have broken apart and have attempted to reattach in a different order.

    Literally bursting with various forms of energy, it is reported that Breamae is vicious. It’ll attack anything in order to gain enough energy to evolve, and if reports are true, for good reason: Braemae who do not gather enough energy will devolve and have to gather up enough energy to evolve into Braemae again.

    #???-Dahimo (Corruption of DHMO (Dihydrogen Monoxide), 2 Water molecules)
    Reactant Pokémon
    Water (Liquid Form)
    Ice (Solid Form)
    Flying (Gas Form)
    Elemental State/Hydration

    Exposing a Braemae to an evolutionary stone will act like a catalyst, lowering the energy needed for Braemae to evolve – however, it will also determine the base form of a particular Dahimo!

    Dahimo’s three pairs of conjoined orbs can change between ice, water, and steam. This is a reaction to a rapid change in temperature, and whilst every Dahimo has one of three base forms, all but a few special Dahimo are said to be able to change states.

    Reply
    • Did you actually research this at all or is it a coincidence that most of this is right? For example, for 2H2 to react with O2, all of the bonds need to be broken before the reaction occurs. You explained this in your description of the evolution process. My only criticisms are the following:
      1. Combusting H2 usually requires additional energy (like a flame), to overcome the energy needed to break the stable O2 and H2 bonds.
      2. The Gibbs free energy for the reaction 2H2+O2 -> 2H2O is negative. So the reverse reaction has a positive Gibbs free energy. Thus water will not spontaneously decompose into 2H2 and O2.
      3. State changes aren’t reactions. So the evolutionary stone stuff on’t act as a catalyst because it’s not a reaction.

      Reply
      • Oh no I’ve got Chem, this is all just bastardised simple stuff I made on a bus ride! ^^

        Thanks for the feedback tho, I knew state changes weren’t reactions but I guess I should’ve simplified a bit less to the point it was incorrect

        Reply
  9. I started drawing papyrus…. but then I turned it into a papyrus redesign…. and I’m not sure what is it now…

    Reply
  10. Holy fuck there is not enough vodka in the world to deal with a three hour bus ride full of cringy 15 year olds

    Send jesus

    Reply

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